Key Question: How Can Psychologists Understanding of Memory Help Patients of Dementia

Describe: Dementia is umbrella of neurological diseases which hinders brain functioning especially everyday activities e.g. making a cup of tea. Leads to memory loss, confusion. 850,000 people predicted to have Dementia by 2015 – 1 million in 2025. 2 million by 2051.

1/3 will die over 65 from dementia. £23 billion each year expected to rise to £27 billion in 2018

Dementia is common, costly, deadly illness. Need to understand it to improve people’s lives & slow the condition down.

Identifying:

Tulving: Episodic & semantic are separate. They struggle making new episodic memories & struggle to remember memories from the near past. Easier to recall older episodic memories from many years ago, many patients find themselves living in these memories & don’t like being contradicted by them. The best way to combat Dementia is by use of cues; photos, smells, sounds, voices to help remember memories.

Godden & Baddeley – Divers found that recalled twice as much learning when they were tested in the same environment that learning took place – showing that patients with Dementia may be able to recall better where the memory was encoded

Kenealy – found that ppts recalled more when in the same mood as when they learned than when in a different mood – these emotional, environmental & contextual cues can help patients with Alzheimer’s to use photos or questions to change their mood to help trigger cues.

Researcher found when items like gloves, cup, key, book was placed in front of ppt with Dementia & asked about their descriptions, use (this forming cues). Dementia ppts were asked to recall the items & struggled at these tasks. After given cues of description & use they failed again to remember – showing that cues aren’t that effective.

Atkinson & Shiffrin: STM doesn’t encode correctly so can’t create long term memories. No longer transfer memories to LTM. To help combat this, MSM suggests asking specific questions ‘How is your daughter’ not ‘has come to visit you’. Using pictures & write things down such as labelling items. Use repletion which creates a routine which sticks.

L.O.P repetition is a basic technique. Level of processing is better due to thinking memory in depth by attaching meaning to memories & therefore L.O.P is a better theory which can help improve life of dementia patients.

Baddeley: Problems with central executive not functioning correctly which causes confusion, meaning lack of attention and inability to solve problems. To help combat this encourage one task at a time, or ask one question at a time so only one store is being used. Avoid distractions as it will limit attention.

Baddley – dual tasks using visual & verbal tasks showing central executive can’t use two systems at the same time. Makes WMM solution more creditable as Dementia patients can’t function using dual tasks.

Central executive isn’t proven to be there, we cannot measure it neither can we find it from brain scans if trying to prove it is being used. The theory of the central executive can be question on how valid it is.

Bartlett: Schema’s are confused as the old schema’s from their past are interfering with new schema’s where they become integrated together leading to greater confusion (leads to living in the past) Use limited question & follow thought process of the person, try not to correct them or divert the thought pattern.

War of the ghosts story of retelling a Native American story wrote in a difficult manner not seen as solid evidence of schema’s & doesn’t really relate to tasks of dementia patients. Not reliable as procedure was not standardized.

Bio: neurological pathways disintegrating from plaques building up on neurons. Use drug treatment to slow down process of dementia.